Tetermokistan
Tetermokistan, officially the Imperial Monarchy of Tetermokistan, is a large nation in the Asia. It borders with most countries in the area, along with the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. The capital city is Patagones, which is situated on a peninsula sticking out into the Caspian Sea. Tetermokistan is an empire, lead by an Emperor (Cassius I) and the Imperial Dynasty. There are also several different councils which govern the activities of the general populace. The country is a haven for companies, as it is very pro-business thanks to the almost complete lack of safety standards and zero percent corporations tax. Thanks to this, the empire has a huge and frighteningly powerful economy, rivalling even world powers like the US or China. History Eastern Roman Empire In the year 549 AD, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire Justinian I conquered a small settlement on the shores of the Caspian Sea named Teter. He liked it very much, and even went there himself to inspect the surrounding landscape. He rebuilt the town bigger and with superior defences, and named it Justinianiopolis in honour of himself. Justinian declared it one of the Holy Cities and the second city to Constantinople in his empire. He sent lavish gifts and huge amounts of gold and other precious substances to the city, along with a constant supply of money. In 565 AD, Justinian died. Justinianiopolis was left behind by the subsequent emperor, who total ignored it's existence. After a few months, the city government decided to become independent from the Eastern Roman Empire, which Constantinople quickly accepted. The city appointed an emperor from the people living in their territory, the abandoned and illegitimate son of Justinian himself, Basil Sabbatius Augustus. Basil I made sure that Tetermokistan was completely separated, and even turned against the Eastern Roman Empire. A series of minor battles occured in northern Iran in the period 564 - 568, which resulted in them leaving the area to Tetermokistan without much talking. Building the Empire In 610 AD, Basil died in Justinianiopolis after a severe bout of the flu. His son Darion I was crowned emperor, and he quickly set up an expedition to go further east into Byzantine Syria and the Holy Land, believing that his father had wanted to conquer these areas but was too ill. What he found was not what he expected. Islam was growing fast and spreading, threatening his army. He withdrew from the area and called his army back to Justinianiopolis, where he was already assembling a larger force. After many deliberations with his advisors, he eventually decided to hold back his huge army until Islam looked weaker. In 632, the chance came with the death of Muhammed. Darion personally led his army of 25,000 men into the northern reaches of Arabia, and soon found the first Muslims. The force violently surged through, burning towns and sieging cities, crushing every defence they came across. By 634, they had reached Mecca. Whilst camping outside the city waiting for a siege, Darion received a vision from God. He had a dream in which a glowing golden figure of Justinian came to him and told him to leave Mecca and return to his capital. Darion promptly disbanded his forces and marched back to the Caspian. Many people were disgraced that he was abandoning such a chance. When he returned, there was a riot that had to be suppressed by the returning army. With a shake to his rule, Darion became very reclusive and was only rarely seen by the public. Politics and Government Imperial Monarch and Dynasty Tetermokistan is an Imperial Monarchy, a state being ruled by an emperor as sole and life-long leader. There are no elections, and the title of emperor is passed down through the Imperial Dynasty to one of their children or chosen heir. This means that the family that rules Tetermokistan are all direct descendents of Justinian, even up to the present day Cassius I. The dynasty, with the name Augustus, shares direct lineage with the Western Roman Emperors as well, meaning that they are a family very fit to rule. Imperial Council The Imperial Council was set up in 1862 by Empress Catherine I. It is made up of 24 members, one from each region in Tetermokistan and directly advises the emperor on matters of the state. It is special because it is still the only council in the world in which its members are all perfectly equal in terms of groups. There are always twelve men and twelve women on the council, with six of each being native Tetermoks and six being from other races. Each member of the Imperial Council is chosen from their respective Regional Councils. Regional Council Each Regional Council governs over a region within the country. They are also made up of 24 members, who are elected by the people of their regions and the city governors. They are in charge of maintaining order on a regional level and making sure that the domestic affairs of the country are not completely forgotten about. City Governor Each city is ruled over by a City Governor. They are elected by the people of the city, and are the main link between the civilians and the Regional Council. The city's complaints and suggestions will go through the City Governor, who will feed the important ones to ￼the Regional Representative who will bring it up in the Regional Council. Foreign Relations Tetermokistan, because of its central location and size, has had extensive and complex relationships with nearby countries. Most of the nations it borders have once had part, if not all, of their territories be part of the empire, they are mostly hostile towards Tetermokistan. China also has a deep rooted hatred for it, as the empire once took control of much of eastern China in a devastating war (the Oriental War). Despite the fact that opinion of Tetermokistan is not that positive, many nations are forced to build relationships because of the immensely strong economy and wealth of the empire. The people and government of the empire are fiercely independent, and so have stayed out of most alliances between nations. However, Tetermokistan was a founding member of the United Nations, and still continues to be an active part. The European Union has made repeated attempts to get the empire to join, but the government has repeatedly denied because they expect the other nations would pressure them into demilitarising. Administrative Divisions The country is made up of 24 regions, eacb of whom have their own Regional Council for governing. All of the regions were created in July 1862 by Empress Catherine I, and their borders placed to her will. They make up the entire mainland of the country. In the Arctic Sea, there are several islands which are colonies of Tetermokistan. They were conquered in the 1860s by Catherine, as the nation realised it needed to follow in the tracks of the more powerful European empires to stay alive. The empire also lays claim to north Arabia, although no other countries recognise this and instead attribute the area to the UAE. Geography Tetermokistan is situated in the northern regions of the Middle East, near the Caucasus Mountains. It is dry and arid, with frequent mountains and hills spurting up around huge flats covering the land. Thanks to the terrible environment, there have been extensive terraforming attempts ￼on some areas, especially those around cities. Climate The climate is very dry, with temperatures averaging over the year at about 23 degrees celsius. There are only occasional downpours, with most of the country's rain coming in huge thunderstorms. Most of the land is like a subtropical desert and very sparsely inhabited, except for the lushous greens around the cities, fed by an artificial water supply. Economy The Tetermokistani economy is mainly driven by the Information Technology and Arms Manufacturing industries, which have fueled it through the modern age. It has been rapidly growing at an ever-increasing rate for the last half-century, making the empire one of the world powers in terms of money production. Tetermokistan has a large trade surplus, meaning that it exports a lot more than it imports, mainly to the US, China and EU. Currency The currency of Tetermokistan is the wig. It was adopted in 769. As of August 2018, the wig is worth $1.40, making it one of the most valuable currencies in the world. It is almost entirely electronic, with citizens using credit cards to transfer money between people. There is a system of coins, but it is rarely utilised and only used for quick one-off payments. Transport The empire has a vast and complex transport network, incorporating a huge number of modes to get people across the country. Most of the public services are privatised however, meaning that citizens have to pay. There is an extensive road network criss-crossing the country, with a great number of railways linking major towns and cities. Some places are important enough to have their own transport systems, like the capital Patagones. It has its own Regional Rail and City Rail, as well as the Patagones Metro and Monorail. There is also a shipping service from Patagones' docks. Outside the city, there is a huge airport, one of the hubs of the world. It is mainly used for trade however, but it is the home of several big aerospace companies like Tetermokistan Air. Military The military of Tetermokistan is large and powerful, a force that could rival and perhaps best the other world powers. Every citizen has to serve a year in the army when they are 18 years old, but they do not contribute to the main force an are instead reserves. Because of this training, most of the general populace can be called into service at any time and be able to work effectively. It is made up of three different sectors: the Ground Force, the Air Force and the Space Force. The Tetermokistani Ground Force (TGF) had 1.2 million active members in August 2018, with are further 3.5 million in reserves. The Tetermokistani Air Force (TAF) had 300,000 members and 40,000 aircraft as of the same date, with 40 aircraft carriers and 12 warships. The Tetermokistani Space Force (TSF) had 20,000 members, with 600 ships currently in orbit. 200 of these are directly weaponised, and 55 of them are designed to target enemy satellites. There is also a largely hidden sector of the military that is responsible for the nuclear programs and cyber warfare, which has unknown numbers. It is known, however, that Tetermokistan owned 23,000 armed nuclear warheads in 2016, and it is inferred that this number has risen by now. Tetermokistan also possesses military bases outside of its own territories, have one in each potential threat or superpower nation. The UN and its member states have actively opposed this, but they are all too scared to do anything to change this for fear of retaliation. Superweapons It is known that the Tetermokistani army possesses several superweapons, which are said to be beyond the power of any other nation's arsenal. The first of these is dubbed the 'Moon Cannon', of which very little is known about apart from that it is in space and can be used to destroy entire cities. It is not known whether the weapon is actually on the Moon or looks like a Moon or even why it is called the Moon Cannon. The second is the Brahmastra, a weapon which has been confirmed to register but has never been shown to the public. It is supposedly an extremely powerful 1 gigaton nuclear bomb which could destroy entire countries. This may be an over exaggeration, but there have been several reports of people seeing the weapon and sometimes even its destructive capabilities. Demographics Population According to the latest August 2018 census, there are 114,345,000 citizens of Tetermokistan. Most of them live in the area surrounding the Caspian Sea, the hotspot being Patagones. The city and its extended region is home to 26 million people, with 11 million in the city and its suburbs and 3 million actually living in the main city. The population grows slowly per year, as there is little interest in immigrating to the country which would feed growth. It grows by approximately 0.12% a year, or about 136,000 people. Ethnicity According to the census, 68.2% of the population are native Tetermoks. 21.9% come from Western Europe, 5% from the US, 2% from Islamic background, 1.8% from Jewish background, and 0.9% other. This shows the extreme diversity within the country. As for religion, 89% of people identified as atheist. This is probably down to the fact that the government does not endorse the teaching of religion in state schools, instead focusing on science and developing the country. 9% were Orthodox Christians (8% Greek, 1% Russian), 1.1% Jewish and 0.9% others. Language It is reported that 99.5% of Tetermoks speak English as one of their langauges. The other 0.5% speak either the native Tetermokistani, Greek or Latin. Most Tetermoks speak at least basic Greek and Latin as they are taught these languages in the schools and higher educations. Science and Technology Tetermokistan is a world leader in science and technology. It is the biggest exporter of Information Technology and has an extreme scientific advancement rating. It also has an extensive space agency, with the main government Tetermokistan Space Agency running things, numerous companies and private enterprises in orbit and a fully operational and dangerous Tetermokistan Space Force, which owns a city-destroying super weapon. It is not just in space that Tetermokistan is advanced - it is in the cities as well. At the center of New Town Patagones is the Remus Tower, the tallest building in the world standing at a mile high. There is also the Patagones Superrail, a magnetic floating train system that runs through central Patagones, and the Monorail and Regional Rail. As an example of the older shows of advancement, in the center of Patagones Casbah there is the Statue of Catherine, a 166m tall solid gold statue of the glorious Tetermokistani ruler, built in 1860. In and around each major city, there is an artificial lush environment which is perfect for growing almost every type of crop. This is a wonder of engineering, as most of Tetermokistan's landscape is a harsh, windswept desert which is largely inhospitable. Because of the huge cost of these projects, they could only be performed in an extremely rich country like Tetermokistan. *